I am a stay-at-home mom and have a 7-year-old son. I have been caring for other children for 9 years now. I am very flexible with scheduling, I enjoy watching other children, along with my son, so he can have some interaction with others, which is very important to me. I can come to your home, or your child(ren) could come to mine, whichever you're more comfortable with. I do not smoke and I have my own transportation, also am just fine with pets! I have no specific rate, it just depends on what works for the parents of the child(ren), I am caring for. It's usually between $9 to $12/hour.

We are Ontario parents, educators, service providers, academics and community members. We are very concerned about some of the regulatory changes your government has proposed for child care centres. We are especially troubled by the changes to age group composition that will have the effect of reducing staff: child ratios and increasing group sizes.

When I graduate in June 2016, I will officially be an ECE. Throughout my studies, discussions of low recognition of ECEs, no National Framework, low wages for ECEs, etc have been hot topics. Learning that there is such a lack of help for ECEs is alarming, especially for someone fresh out of school in hopes of having this as a career, a way to provide for a family. Looking into a National Framework in the 2017-2018 budget is not helping families, ECEs, etc who need help NOW. Now is the time to make a difference for the future. Doing something in the future doesn’t help with the problems we face now.
Otoacoustic emissions are clinically important because they are the basis of a simple, non-invasive test for hearing defects in newborn babies and in children who are too young to cooperate in conventional hearing tests. Many western countries now have national programmes for the universal hearing screening of newborn babies. Periodic early childhood hearing screenings program are also utilizing OAE technology. One excellent example has been demonstrated by the Early Childhood Hearing Outreach Initiative at the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management (NCHAM) at Utah State University, which has helped hundreds of Early Head Start programs across the United States implement OAE screening and follow-up practices in those early childhood educational settings.[8][9][10] The primary screening tool is a test for the presence of a click-evoked OAE. Otoacoustic emissions also assist in differential diagnosis of cochlear and higher level hearing losses (e.g., auditory neuropathy).

Thus, we propose that your government needs to withdraw proposed changes to age ranges, ratios and group sizes. Instead we recommend that the government develop a well-considered road map that begins with a clear vision, goals/objectives, targets and timetables, with regulatory changes as one part of this plan. This would have a better chance for successful policy change. We also call on Ontario to play a positive leadership role with the new federal Liberal government and other provinces/territories in developing the high quality universal integrated ECEC system that so many have been seeking for so long.

We recognize that there are good reasons to make changes in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Ontario. But we believe that these must be based on the best available evidence about what is of most benefit to children and families; we argue that these proposed changes are not. Additionally, we suggest that changes in ECEC in Ontario will continue to have negative effects if they continue to be “piecemeal”.
It has been found that distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE’s) have provided the most information for detecting mild hearing loss in high frequencies when compared to transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (TEOAE).[13] This is an indication that DPOAE’s can help with detecting an early onset of noise-induced hearing loss. A study measuring audiometric thresholds and DPOAEs among individuals in the military showed that there was a decrease in DPOAEs after noise exposure, but did not show a shift in audiometric threshold. This supports OAEs as predicting early signs of noise damage.[14]
Our mission is to create a safe, positive, and loving environment for children with an emphasis on early education and childhood development. We strive to provide an optimal learning atmosphere, which is developmentally appropriate and a setting in which every child can experience success and develop confidence and independence. We attain these goals through guidance and leadership from qualified, caring and dedicated early childhood teachers. We strive to prepare our children for success in their academic careers by providing numerous activities for cognitive development, including both structured and independent learning opportunities.
Shawna Kay – Mom of two children in care. My youngest isn’t quite 1 yr old yet. How much more difficult do you need to make it for us? I barely make enough to cover daycare as it is, and that’s WITH subsidy! The ripple effect here is going to negatively impact so many. Please think of how much these changes are HURTING people who are just scraping by as it is!!!!
An otoacoustic emission (OAE) is a sound which is generated from within the inner ear. Having been predicted by Thomas Gold in 1948, its existence was first demonstrated experimentally by David Kemp in 1978[1] and otoacoustic emissions have since been shown to arise through a number of different cellular and mechanical causes within the inner ear.[2][3] Studies have shown that OAEs disappear after the inner ear has been damaged, so OAEs are often used in the laboratory and the clinic as a measure of inner ear health.

- A suggestion that it is not necessary to consume large amounts of water before and during pregnancy (p35). Apparently, the best way to hydrate your body is to 'consume plenty of healthy fats, because fats provide the most energy on the cellular level - much more than carbohydrates and proteins, and the by product of this energy is water'. I don't know enough about this matter to comment further at this stage, but I find it strange that drinking water would be discouraged.

Some of the child rearing advice was unexpected: p. 203 "no parents can really play with their children" because they have "too much responsibility, too many disappointments, too much school learning to play" and "Don't play with your children, just do your stuff-laundry, cooking, gardening, mowing the lawn, bird watching." Perhaps the authors began writing the section to stress the importance of letting children have creative play rather than structuring all playtime with activities and parental narration, but they composed a message of 'do your chores and leave your child to do his own thing.' Again, there were no references in this brief section, though there are plenty of sources the authors could have drawn from if they had done some research.
- An apparent misunderstanding about baby-led weaning. The book says that baby-led weaning is to be resisted and that baby's parents should be squarely in charge of what baby eats from the beginning. I did a combination of purees and baby-led weaning with both my children, and I was always squarely in charge of what they ate and what they were offered. Part of my role as a mother is to prepare nourishing foods for my children. Whether they pick at it and hand-feed themselves or whether I offered it mushed up on a spoon is irrelevant. The book fails to recognise that a child can only choose food from that which they have been offered or is available. If only nourishing food is offered and available, then that is what the child will choose.
My licensed home childcare will incorporate the experience and knowledge I have gained while working 13 years as a preschool teacher most of which was at a NAEYC accredited 4 Star Qualistar rated program. I am CPR/First Aid certified. I have a fenced in backyard and there is a park nearby. I absolutely LOVE spending my days watching children learn, grow, and experience the world around them, to me there is no other job as rewarding!